Rod Frazier fallout: Manatee school district recommends termination of five administrators

From left to right: Robert Gagnon, Deborah Horne, Greg Faller and Matt Kane.

Scott Martin

Rod Frazier is a parent liaison and running backs coach at football powerhouse Manatee High School.

Bradenton, Florida -- There's more fallout Thursday from the investigation of former Manatee High assistant football coach Rod Frazier who recently resigned following accusations he groped female students and faculty.

After a thorough, complete investigation, the school district is now recommending five administrators be terminated for not reporting the allegations.

They include:

* Robert Gagnon, assistant superintendent and former principal at Manatee High School

* Greg Faller, former Manatee High School assistant principal and current assistant principal at Palmetto High School

* Matt Kane, former Manatee High School assistant principal and current assistant principal at Southeast High School

* Deborah Horne, former investigator in the Office of Professional Standards and current assistant principal at Robert H. Prine Elementary School, and

* Scott Martin, former assistant superintendent and current staff attorney

Superintendent Rick Mills released the following statement on his recommendation:

"All employees of this District are expected to make students their primary professional concern. Moreover, as leaders, district administrators have a paramount responsibility to meet the expectations of providing a safe and secure environment for students and staff.

Unfortunately, the findings of the Frazier investigation reflect that these administrators failed to fulfill these obligations; causing me to lose all confidence in their abilities to serve as administrators in this District. I further found that just cause exists to terminate their employment.

The District remains vigilant in ensuring the safety of all students and employees and has already taken steps to prevent these issues from arising again in the future. Prior to the conclusion of the investigation, the District mandated that more than 5,000 employees attend a course in Identifying and Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect.

Moving forward, I want to emphasize that all employees of this District are required to make every reasonable effort to protect students from conditions harmful to learning and their safety. It is incumbent upon all employees to share any concerns they might have in this area with fellow employees, administrators, local law enforcement, and the Florida Department of Children and Families. Employees are also required to report suspected child abuse to the Florida Department of Children and Families' Florida Abuse Hotline (1-800-962-2873, TDD 1-800-453-5145)."

The school Board will consider the recommendation during its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Oct. 4 at 5:45 p.m.